Olympic cheating: Double Standard?

Parent Cafe
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<p>[Does</a> Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen deserve an apology? | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk](<a href=“Does Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen deserve an apology? | Opinion | theguardian.com”>Does Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen deserve an apology? | Opinion | theguardian.com)</p>

<p>Does John Leonard owe Ye Shiwen an apology?</p>

<p>98% Yes
1% No</p>

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<p>It is nothing new that a great athletic performance is shrouded in clouds of suspicion. In this day and age that applies equally to all athletes. We see a great performance and we want to believe it is for real but we’ve been burned so many times in the past we are skeptical. If the athlete passes subsequent testing we allow ourselves to believe that maybe we really did witness greatness.</p>

<p>I have no problems with suspicion being cast on the remarkable performance of Ye, I don’t know why the race card is being played. It would happen to any athlete who swam like she did. The final arbiter will be results of the drug testing. I know that isn’t definitive because people can beat tests but it is the best we can do.</p>

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<p>mini, forgive my ignorance, but what are focus drugs? And why would they be necessary for gymnasts?</p>

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<p>Pea.
I didn’t see the suspicion when Phelps got 8 gold and when Torres got a medal at age 41 anywhere near what Ye got now. Race is definitely a factor.</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t necessarily say race, I would say nationality. Which I think is fair game, given China’s past exploits. Again, I’m Chinese and I myself had/have some doubts. However, I do have an issue with someone of standing and recognition making an accusation to the media. That kind of unsubstantiated nonsense has real potential to kill sponsorship dollars and the limelight of someone’s career.</p>

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<p>It’s sad thatbwinning these medals is encouraging the training of athletes as young as four all for national pride, while robbing the kids of being kids.</p>

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<p>China definitely had been found guilty in doping cases before. but it was found 11 times compared to 240 for US, 27 for UK, etc.
Race is also a factor. I remember a couple of winter Olympics ago one NBC announcer was so upset that a Chinese skater got gold for figure skating and an American skater (Sarah Hughes?) lost. The “Chinese” skater was Michelle Kwan. a natural born American.</p>

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<p>Michelle Kwan is a lovely skater, but she never won an Olympic Gold medal.</p>

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<p>Hunt,</p>

<p>As Bob Costas pointed out, Michael Phelps improved his record by 5 seconds between age 15 and 16. (same as Ye did). I suspect them equally.</p>

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<p>What are you talking about? Sarah Hughes did indeed win a gold medal at the only Olympic games in which she competed. Michelle Kwan got the bronze medal.</p>

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<p>QuantMech</p>

<p>My bad memory. Michelle got bronze in 2002 Olympics.</p>

<p>But my point is that the NBC announcer called her “Chinese” skater.</p>

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<p>No, it seemed that you were making a point that an announcer was peeved that a “Chinese” skater had beat an American skater, which would indeed make one suspect a racist attitude. In fact you stated that he was “so upset.” But we know that she did not defeat Sarah Hughes; now you say your point was that the announcer referred to her as “Chinese” as though that somehow implicated him as a racist. Seeing that her parents were Chinese immigrants, I’m not seeing the evil in the announcer’s reference to her as being “Chinese,” even though the correct term would have been “Chinese American.” And given that you’ve twice misstated the skating results (you deleted your second wrong post), I’m not all that convinced that any of this happened in the spirit in which you have asserted because clearly your memory of the event is faulty.</p>

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<p>violao, yes I read your links. If you read them carefully, you will see those articles are merely reporting and also pointing out other examples of similarly improved times of other swimmers, not in an accusatory tone like you and others.</p>

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<p>"Olympic Committee Clears Chinese Swimmer Ye Shiwen’s Name From Dope Controversy, Says John Leonard Is Not An Olympic Official…</p>

<p>She was later cleared of using banned substances by the World Doping Agency. “She’s clean. That’s the end of the story,” Colin Moynihan, chairman of the British Olympic Association, told ABC news, announcing the test results…</p>

<p>USA Swimming issued a statement, distancing itself from Leonard’s comments. “John Leonard is not an employee, representative or spokesperson for USA Swimming, nor is he a member of the U.S. Olympic swim team or part of the U.S. delegation.”</p>

<p>[Olympic</a> Committee Clears Chinese Swimmer Ye Shiwen?s Name From Dope Controversy, Says John Leonard Is Not An Olympic Official - International Business Times](<a href=“http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/369303/20120801/chinese-swimmer-questioned-china-olympic-2012-team.htm]Olympic”>Olympic Committee Clears Chinese Swimmer Ye Shiwen?s Name From Dope Controversy, Says John Leonard Is Not An Olympic Official) </p>

<p>Having suspicion is just a thought, but making insinuation on the press without evidence is a blunder.</p>

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<p>OT:</p>

<p>Accidentally I found this…</p>

<p>[Do</a> Olympic Swimmers Pee In The Pool? ‘Nearly 100 Percent’ Do, Says Former U.S. National Team Member](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>Do Olympic Swimmers Pee In The Pool? 'Nearly 100 Percent' Do, Says Former U.S. National Team Member | HuffPost Sports)</p>

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<p>Gee, Green, if that is news to you - neither you nor your kid ever swam competitively. There are NO bathroom breaks during and beetwen sets. :)</p>

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<p>“What are you talking about? Sarah Hughes did indeed win a gold medal at the only Olympic games in which she competed. Michelle Kwan got the bronze medal.”</p>

<p>And Sarah Hughes was not a natural-born American. She was from Long Island. ;)</p>

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<p>BB, I did swim competitively in HS. I just stop drinking water the 2 hours prior and pee before jumping into the pool. Maybe I didn’t practice long enough to reach the national level… :-)</p>

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<p>A chauvinist.</p>

<p>It’s a term that got taken over by the feminists but originally referred primarily to blind, excessive nationalism.</p>

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<p>Worse than that, she went to Yale. ;-)</p>